The Way They Were
by Take this to Heart
Summary: There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and using four wands and a sack of flour to fight off a group of death eaters is one of them.
1. June 25th: Part I

_a/n: Hello, all! I haven't written anything in a while and this story is slightly different from my usual, but I feel that it is better written than my other work. I'm really excited for this story and hope that everyone enjoys it! :) Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, and the summary (as well as the corresponding line in the text) is based off of a quote from the first book._

* * *

Clifford's Corner Store sold milk.

It also sold candy, chips, magazines, over-the-counter medicines, peanut butter, diapers, soup, and a plethora of other items considered necessary for the people of Cokeworth. As such, Clifford's Corner Store saw a steady stream of regular business all year round.

Elijah Clifford, the shop's owner, was a decrepit old man in his seventieth decade. He was no longer the spry firecracker he had been when he had first founded the store (thereby being the first in his family to make something of himself), but he could still be found in the back rooms of the place, hobbling around on his mahogany cane and threatening any folks he deemed to be potential shop-lifters. As he did not have the energy or the patience to deal with the endless flow of customers that the shop saw daily, Mr. Clifford eventually enlisted the help of a young girl with striking green eyes.

He was not inclined to _trust _gingers, especially not sixteen year old gingers—he had always been told that they had a wicked temper and no consideration for others. However, this particular ginger came with a reference letter from his landlady Mrs. Mortimor (this letter cheerfully reminded Clifford that she knew all about the illicit cat he kept in his flat, and unless he wanted her to take actions to remove this cat, he better damn well give "Lily Evans" a job).

And so he did.

He didn't ask why she needed a job and he didn't ask how she knew Mrs. Mortimor. In fact, he didn't really ask her much of anything. He just read the letter, made sure that she at least _seemed _trustworthy, and gave her a job working part-time at the counter without so much as a smile.

Just because he had to cater to Mrs. Mortimor's whims didn't mean he had to be _happy_ about it.

He was a stubborn man, so his surliness lasted well into the first month of Lily Evans's employment.

She wasn't a bad employee, she was just…different. She came in every morning, right on time with a smile and a "Good morning, Mr. Clifford!" She scolded him when he tried to climb the ladder to restock something, and climbed it herself—flat out ignoring him when he protested. Sometimes she brought him back a sandwich from the local deli if she noticed that he hadn't had time to eat yet. She flirted lightly with the customers, was courteous to everyone, and had even started up a Tip Jar to raise funds for his hip replacement surgery (she was able to raise £46 in two days).

Lily Evans was the best employee—and the sweetest ginger—that Mr. Clifford had ever known.

He would deny it until his dying day if asked outright, but he had developed a soft spot for the young girl. And when she entered the shop seven minutes late on June 25, a slight frown upon her face, Mr. Clifford was…well…_worried_.

"All right there, Evans?" he grunted, stumping out of the back room to survey her.

She looked up at him briefly, before casting her eyes down again, pulling her long hair out of her face and into a ponytail. "Yes, sir. I'm fine."

In Mr. Clifford's personal opinion (he had a knack for this sort of thing) she was absolutely _not_ fine. And he told her so.

"Well…" she hedged, before heaving a sigh and leaning against the counter. "You're right. It's been a pretty horrid morning."

"You wake up on the wrong side o' the bed?" he asked shortly.

"No. It's my sister's birthday and we got into a row, _again_. And then I saw an old—er…well, he was my best friend for a long time, but we had a sort of falling out at the end of school this year…"

She trailed off, and Mr. Clifford (being a man of few words), didn't know what to say. With a clearing of his throat, he gave her a short nod before turning away.

"Good luck with things, Evans," he called over his shoulder.

She smiled—her first genuine smile of the day. "Thank you, Mr. Clifford."

* * *

When Lily was still friends with Severus Snape, they would end up in Clifford's Corner Store every summer without fail.

It was mainly Lily's fault, seeing as she had an incurable penchant for the ice cream bars they stocked, and every time she felt a little overheated she would drag Sev into the store for a frosty treat. Sometimes they would stop in for a bag of chips or a cool drink—one time (she remembered very clearly because they had laughed about it all day) they each made up lists and had a scavenger hunt among the shelves. It had been extremely fun until Clifford got suspicious and kicked them out.

Now, staring out at the small, sun-dappled shop from her place behind the counter, Lily felt a tug of sadness in her gut.

There were memories here: Memories of weaving in between the shelves in search for that perfect summertime snack; memories of laughing at Mr. Clifford as he chased a hooligan with his cane; even memories of pressing her face against the large storefront window as she passed in the hopes of seeing Severus inside buying medicine or something for his mother.

And then, a memory that eclipsed them all: _"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"_

He had tried to apologize, of course. He had waited for her outside the common room, accosted her in the library; he had even sent her a letter at the beginning of summer (that she had promptly thrown away).

But the look on his face when she'd encountered him this morning on her way to work, had jarred the suppressed memories loose. He had been walking down the alleyway that she used as a shortcut sometimes, and though she was already late, seeing Snape so unexpectedly made her stumble to a stop.

He had kept walking, looking at her so impassively that she was sure he must be hiding his true emotions with the apathetic mask he so often wore (she found it hard to believe that he could get over everything so abruptly, especially after the way he'd acted after it happened). He had passed her, not sparing her a second glance, peering through her as if she were a ghost—as if their friendship had really meant shit to him and he had forgotten everything they had been through together.

"Sev!" she called after him, unable to stop herself, her heart feeling heavy and dull inside her chest.

He hesitated, just for a second, before turning around, the same bland look upon his face. "Don't call me that," he said simply.

And then he turned away.

The thought that he could forget about them so easily had been haunting her all morning because seeing him again had reminded her of everything—the good times _and_ the bad times, and could Snape really just give up? Could he really just ignore her; ignore the fact that he had been her _best friend _and that she had a right to be royally pissed off at him? Was he really just going to pretend like none of it had ever happened?

Well, that was just fine. Perhaps, Lily mused, it would better that way anyway. It was hard to keep pushing Snape away—to pretend like she didn't have an urge to accept his apology and save him from himself. The last thing she wanted was for her (former) best friend to be sucked into the Dark Arts. But then she remembered who he always hung around with and how they treated other muggleborns, and she wondered if maybe he hadn't been sucked into it already.

If he could forget, then it would make it that much easier on her—and maybe then they could truly go their separate ways.

"_You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."_

The jingle of the shop's bell disrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to find four very familiar boys running into the store, all looking slightly sweaty and harassed.

"Do you think they saw us come in here?" Remus Lupin asked urgently, swiping a hand over his forehead, his bangs sticking slightly to the skin.

Sirius shrugged in answer. "Either way we're screwed."

James Potter ran a hand through his hair, coming further into the store. "I can try to contact my dad. Tell him where we—_Evans_?"

He stopped short at his words, hazel eyes meeting green, and Peter Pettigrew, who had been following close behind, ran into the back of him. "Ouch," he grumbled, rubbing his nose tenderly. "What the hell, Prongs?"

"Evans," he repeated again, looking almost sick. Lily stared back at all of them in shock. They had been the last people she had expected to see today, and their sudden arrival had her quite flustered. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," she said simply. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Shit," Sirius Black suddenly muttered, much to her surprise. "_Shit_. This is so bad. Prongs, get your dad."

"What's going on?" Lily asked uncertainly. She couldn't remember a time when _every one_ of the Marauders looked nervous. "Is everything all right?"

The four boys stared at her, looking as if they were deliberating on telling her what had gotten them worked up into such a state, but after a moment they turned back towards each other, murmuring softly.

Lily let out a light huff, figuring that their behavior was only to be expected. They hadn't spoken since the end of last year, when she had (wrongly) blamed them for her ruined friendship with Snape. She had known at the time that it was ultimately Snape's fault, but she was _so mad _that they had been picking on him in the first place and that James Potter had embarrassed her _again _by asking her out in front of a large group of people.

She brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes, still carefully watching the four Gryffindors talk amongst themselves. She knew that apologies needed to be exchanged, but she was suddenly quite certain that something was wrong…James looked over and caught her eye again, but he didn't look annoyed with their less than affable parting last year. He looked…_worried_.

The Marauders weren't bad guys. Yes, they annoyed her for a good majority of the time that she spent around them, but they were loyal and they were trust-worthy and they were extremely outspoken in their steadfast disapproval for any type of dark magic. Seeing them now, looking panicked and concerned and completely ignoring the way they'd parted last year—which they would normally bring up at the first opportunity—made her anxious as well.

"Er…Guys?" she said hesitantly. "Potter?"

They stopped talking, though they still looked rather jumpy, and Potter's hand flew to his hair again. "Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sirius said immediately.

She frowned. "I don't believe you."

"Have you seen anything strange, Evans?" James asked abruptly.

She blinked. "Strange?"

"Yeah, strange. You know, like…anything weird?"

"Like what?"

"We don't have time for this," Sirius interrupted. "James, can you contact your father, or not?"

"I—"

They never found out whether he could or not, for at that moment, a large explosion blasted the storefront window into pieces, spraying the room with shards of glass.

Lily shrieked ducking behind the counter, but the Marauders had nowhere to go.

"_Fuck_!" Sirius yelled, ducking away from the window as well as he could, even as the force of the blast knocked them backwards a few steps. The others followed suit, gritting their teeth as slivers of glass pierced their skin, and with a grunt, Remus pushed his three friends towards the heavy wooden counter that Lily was behind.

Catapulting themselves over the top, the four boys collapsed next to the redhead, breathing heavily and bleeding.

"What is going on?!" she demanded shrilly, wincing as Peter pulled a rather large piece of glass out of his arm. "What _was _that? Who did that?"

"Death eaters," Sirius muttered shortly, preforming a shoddy healing spell on a gash across James's neck.

Lily paled. "Death eaters?" she repeated, looking at Sirius in shock. "You're being chased by _death eaters_?" Remus nodded grimly. "_Why_? What did you _do_?"

Sirius grimaced. "I may or may not have gotten into an altercation with one last weekend that resulted in his arrest by the Ministry. It seems his mates are out for a little revenge."

Lily gaped for a moment, unable to find the words to correctly describe what she was feeling.

Another blast reverberated throughout the shop and James set his jaw. "Come on," he said, moving himself into a crouching position. "The ministry will realize that spells are going off in a muggle neighborhood. They'll come stop it. Are you guys ready?"

"What are you _doing_?" Lily hissed, horrified, as the other three nodded.

"Don't worry there's only four," Remus said.

"_Only _four?"

"Evans, if you don't want to fight, I won't hold it against you," James said shortly, "but we can't just sit here."

A cold feeling stole through her veins. "I can't fight," she said weakly.

"Sure you can," Remus said, giving her an encouraging smile. "You're brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Don't force her!" James said sharply.

"I'm not! I'm just saying—"

"No," Lily interrupted, rubbing a shaking hand over her face. "I _can't. _I don't have my wand on me."

The boys froze; Sirius looked at her incredulously. "You _don't have _your wand?" he repeated, looking like he very much wanted to hit something.

She shook her head miserably.

"Oh no," Peter groaned.

"Come out and play," a horribly sinister voice growled from somewhere in the shop.

"Great," Sirius was muttering. "This is just bloody great. What kind of witch doesn't carry her wand—"

"Shut up, Padfoot," James snapped, rubbing an agitated hand through his hair, looking torn. "I'm trying to think."

"Go," Lily said tersely, as the death eaters shot another curse that blasted through some shelves. "I'll be fine. They might not know I'm here."

James glared at her, which she really thought he had no business doing. "Wormtail, you stay here with Lily," he said gruffly. Peter nodded. "Everyone else, come on."

"Be careful!" she cried, reaching for his arm. He shook her off, standing up and shooting off a stunning spell that missed its target, Sirius and Remus at his sides. Without a glance back, they launched themselves back over the counter and into battle.

"Oh Merlin," Lily moaned, jumping as she heard another large explosion. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Don't worry, Lily," Peter said, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. "We've been holding these four off all morning. They're not that smart. And I may not be as quick as the lads are with defensive spells, but I can do a bloody good shield charm."

She smiled feebly. "Thanks, Peter."

He grinned—and looked far too relaxed for the situation they were currently in. "Any time."

"What in the devil's name is going on out here?" Someone roared, and Lily's heart dropped to her shoes.

"Oh no," she moaned in fear.

"What?" Peter asked urgently. "What is it now?"

"Mr. Clifford."

"Who?"

She looked over the top of the counter, Peter scrambling up to be beside her, just in time to see the old man she had grown so fond of clump out of the storage room.

The two death eaters spotted him as well, laughing cruelly. "Look, it's a _muggle_!" One of them shouted, sending a curse his way that James just barely managed to deflect.

"Get out of my store!" Elijah Clifford thundered, swinging his cane through the air menacingly.

"Mr. Clifford!" Lily screamed. "Get out of here!"

At her words, a death eater shot a spell towards her, but Peter's confidence in his shield-casting abilities proved true, and the spell merely bounced off and put a hole in the ceiling.

"Not a chance in hell, Evans!" he answered, taking a step into the fray. "These hooligans are ruining my shop!"

"Mr. Clifford, no!" she shouted again. She tried to climb over the counter, but Peter grabbed her and held her firmly in place.

This time it was Remus that deflected the spell meant for the old man.

"Peter, shield _him_!" Lily said with a sudden burst of fervor, pointing across the room at her boss.

"But Li—"

"_Protect him!_"she demanded, sounding slightly hysterical even to her own ears. "I can take care of myself!"

He hesitated only a moment more before nodding, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like: "James is gonna kill me," before scampering off towards the old man.

As soon as he left the safety of the counter, Lily poked her head up cautiously. Remus and Sirius were both in front of Mr. Clifford now (who was still ranting and raving) wildly deflecting every spell that two particularly vicious death eaters were launching at them, while James was backed against a shelf, fending off the other two death eaters by himself.

She had to do something. She couldn't just _sit there _and watch them get beaten or hurt or _worse_, regardless of if she had a wand or not. They were only sixteen years old. Sixteen bloody years. Without every person doing everything in their power to help, she doubted they would get out of this situation unscathed. With a deep breath to steady her heart, she quickly determined what she needed to do.

Peter was creeping towards the store room; at any minute, he'd be able to protect Mr. Clifford, allowing Remus and Sirius to focus on incapacitating their death eaters. James was closer to her anyways, therefore being easier to help; she just needed to figure out a good distraction…

Her eyes settled on the heavy glass jar she'd been collecting tips in for Mr. Clifford's upcoming hip replacement surgery.

Without giving herself any more time to think about it, she jumped on top of the counter, scooping up the jar and holding it defensively.

"OI!" She shouted, as loud as she could. "Wouldn't you tossers rather kill a Mudblood like me?" The two death eaters fighting James looked over, just as Peter reached Mr. Clifford.

"Evans!" James shouted angrily. "What do you think you're—" With a deep breath, Lily threw the glass jar with all her might, making solid contact with one of the death eater's faces. The jar cracked loudly, sending paper money and coins spilling across the floor and the man stumbled backwards, accidentally dropping his wand as he fought the urge to black out.

The other death eater snarled at her, turning swiftly away from James and towards her.

"_Cruci_—"

"_NO!_" James shouted desperately, shooting a spell that made the death eater trip forward. The curse barely missed Lily, allowing her enough time to jump off of the counter and roll behind a row of shelves; she let out a sharp cry as she felt some glass slice her knee.

Staggering to her feet, she limped forwards, peering around the edge of the shelf to survey the scene once more. Sirius was grinning rather manically, looking as if he was actually enjoying matching wits with the older death eater. Remus had moved away from Mr. Clifford, but was still fighting his opponent, and James was overcome with such fury at the whole '_Crucio'_ situation that he was busy shooting every curse he could think of in his adversary's face, slowly beating him backwards towards the open window.

As if in slow motion, Lily watched the death eater she had hit with the jar shake off the injury, retrieve his wand and shoot off a spell towards Peter, who had been focusing all of his attention on shielding Mr. Clifford.

"Peter!" Lily cried as he was blasted backwards into the store room.

With a shout, Remus shot a conjunctivitis curse and dashed over to Peter, deflecting more curses as he ran. Turning around, Sirius managed to engage the death eater Lily had hit into his duel, but the one that Remus had just dealt with muttered the counter curse and turned towards the old man.

With one graceful arc of his wand through the air, Mr. Clifford's throat was slashed, blood spattering the wall behind him in a lethal pattern.

"_NO!_" Lily shrieked, feeling her throat tighten. The death eater started directly towards her, his eyes narrowed into evil slits behind his mask and she let out a choked sob, stumbling backwards a step.

"Evans, _run_!" Sirius shouted as he shot a spell towards the death eater pursuing her, and she ducked back behind the shelf, pure fear and anger mingling together and obscuring the urge to cry.

Sirius would not be able to distract him for long; she had to act quickly.

And she would not run. Running would give her no chance; she would be a fleeing target—easy to kill. She needed to be clever; she needed to find a way to catch him off guard and fight back long enough to survive. Ignoring her shaking hands, blinded by fury (or was it grief?), she looked around frantically for something to use to fight the death eater with.

Her desperate eyes landed on the contents of a shelf near her feet. Picking up the sack of flour with a burst of inspiration, she feverishly ripped it open, and poised herself at the edge of the shelf rows, listening hard for any footsteps coming towards her. She heard them almost immediately.

Although her pounding heart was threatening to beat out of her chest, Lily let out a steadying breath and took the step so that she was in full view of the death eater, heaving the sack of flour towards him so that the contents sprayed out and hit him in the face.

The thick powder covered his mask, infiltrating his mouth so effectively, that his curses were turned into pathetic coughs and choking noises. In his anger, he shot off a nonverbal spell at random that she easily dodged, and before he could wipe the flour out of his eyes, she rammed her foot as hard as she could into his crotch, yanking his wand out of his grip in the next second.

"_Stupefy!_" she shouted forcefully. Though this wand did not feel nearly as powerful as her own, it still got the job done, and as the man was stunned she quickly conjured ties to keep him immobile.

Adrenaline pumping through her body, she turned to the fight, charging across the floor before she process what she doing.

Keeping her eyes purposefully averted from Mr. Clifford's fallen body, she shouted, "_Reducto_!" catching one of the death eaters dueling Sirius by surprise and sending him soaring across the room. He hit the ground with a sickening thud, and she quickly stupefied and tied him as well.

"Evans?" Sirius asked in disbelief as he sent his opponent stumbling back a few steps. "How'd you get a wand?"

"Tell you later, Black," she yelled, sending a curse at the death eater still struggling with James, who was now bleeding profusely from a cut in his stomach.

"Potter!" she called in alarm as she saw the startling red color soaking through his blue shirt. She started to dash over to him, but he shook his head.

"Stay back!" he wheezed out, just as the death eater sent a curse towards her. "_Protego_!" she yelled quickly, but the curse still knocked her backwards, causing her to smack into the back of the death eater that Sirius was now taunting ("Oh, come on, you can do better than that!").

She hit his back hard, sending him forward into Sirius and knocking them all to the ground. Sirius quickly punched him the face, but the raging death eater retaliated by wrapping his hands around Sirius's neck and squeezing with all his might, pushing him roughly into the floor. As the sixteen year old's face started to purple, Lily managed to pick herself off the floor, raising her borrowed wand to help; but she was suddenly knocked backwards by another spell sent from the other death eater.

James had been sent flying across the room too, with a much larger amount of force, and he hit the floor hard and skidded until he ran into a shelf.

"Potter!" she called out, forming a hasty shield around him as the death eater advanced. "Are you alright?"

He raised a hand in a weak thumbs-up and she groaned in fear, casting another glance at Sirius, who had managed to break the death eater's hold on his neck, but was still struggling against the other man's superior strength.

"_Levicorpus_!" she yelled, lifting the death eater six feet in the air. Gasping for breath, Sirius stupefied him and was up in a flash, limping across the room to help James just as Lily let the death eater crash to the ground.

She was about to cross the room to help the boys (and was wondering what on earth had happened to Peter and Remus), when the loud sounds of popping notified her that Aurors from the ministry were apparating onto the scene.

"Freeze!" One of them roared, but his command went unheeded.

At the sight of the Aurors, the last remaining death eater raced across the room to grab one of his fallen comrade's arms, and turned on the spot, disapparating and leaving James fuming.

"Dammit!" he bellowed as Sirius helped him up from the ground, kicking a random piece of wood that had been blasted off of one of the walls. "We almost had him!"

"I need some help in here!" Remus shouted from the back, and Lily, Sirius, and James joined the three Aurors that were heading that way.

Lily, however, stopped short before she reached the room, as she caught sight of a spread-eagled body in her peripheral vision. "I don't know what happened to him," she could hear Remus saying quickly. "He's alive, but he's unconscious, and he won't stop bleeding."

Mr. Clifford hadn't stopped bleeding either, Lily noted, dropping to her knees beside the body and taking one of his gnarled hands in her own. He hadn't deserved to die and yet she had been powerless to stop it, and now he was gone before his time.

"I managed to slow the bleeding a little bit…" Remus was saying and the gravity of the situation hit her full-force as she registered just how heavy and cold Mr. Clifford's hand was.

He was dead.

_Dead. _

And Peter was bleeding out in the next room and there were two _death eaters _tied up on the ground and they were only sixteen years old.

A debilitating sense of relief that she'd survived settled over her.

"What happened here?"

"Do you know how lucky you are?"

"How did this man die?"

"How did you evade harm?"

"Are you aware of the danger you were in?"

"How did you manage to trap these two death eaters?"

The questions that were being asked around her seemed to go on forever, and eventually the noises became foggy and muted, and she wanted to look away from the sight before her, but she couldn't.

Everything was red—his neck, the floor, his clothes, her leg—and she felt dizzy and kind of sick; she'd never seen a dead body before, and now she couldn't tear her eyes away from one.

She started to shiver.

She wasn't sure how long she sat next to Mr. Clifford's body, but suddenly someone (Sirius, she realized belatedly) was forcing her up.

She tried to stand, but pain lanced through her knee and she wobbled dangerously. She had almost forgotten that she'd hurt it near the beginning of the fight. James appeared out of nowhere, catching her underneath her other arm and together, the two boys helped her outside. Remus was already there, talking to some Healers (when had they shown up?).

Sirius stepped away almost immediately to talk to Remus, but James didn't move, just continued to support her weight and stared stoically at the ground.

It was strange to be this close to James Potter and not even care, when they had so often clashed if they came within even a few feet of each other at Hogwarts. Sure, they had moments where he made her laugh or they had a good conversation, but it was usually when they were alone—not with large groups of people around and certainly not in chaos like this.

She supposed that there were some things you couldn't share without ending up liking each other (at least a little bit more than before), and using four wands and a sack of flour to fight off a group of death eaters was one of them.

"It'll be okay, Evans," James said stiffly, and Lily realized that she was crying.

Was this what shock felt like?

Remus and Sirius returned after a moment and they all stood together, too exhausted to do anything but wait until a tall wizard strode up to them. He was intimidating, with a thick trench-coat and a snarl that made her more uneasy than the strange blue eye that seemed to be whirring every which way in its socket. She wondered briefly if his eye had been cursed or if he chose to have it like that.

"Do any of you have anything to say for yourselves?" he growled, and she realized that he was angry, although she didn't really think he had any right to be.

James seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her, and she felt his arm stiffen around her. With a snort and a raised eyebrow that was indicative of his cocky demeanor, he looked this strange wizard straight in the eye and said what she was thinking: "Yeah. What took you so long?"

The wizard scowled as Lily's knee gave a particularly nasty throb. "I think you lot'd better come with me."


	2. June 25th: Part II

_a/n: Sorry that this chapter took awhile to finish! I had originally planned for it to be longer but I didn't like how it ended up and I decided to just cut some of it out and post it. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think! Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! And in answer to **JLLove**: This WILL be a multi-chapter story. _

* * *

Like any bureaucratic organization, the Ministry of Magic involved lots and lots of waiting; which was exactly what the four sixteen year olds had been doing for the past hour and a half.

It was torture. It was absolute torture to sit at a crescent shaped table with no idea what was going on and no idea when they were going to find out.

Despite the fact that they had managed to capture two death eaters, which Sirius was quite proud of, the Aurors seemed content to shunt them aside—they had received no answers, no attention, and (perhaps most irritatingly) no respect.

The room they were currently in was the complete antithesis of the room he was _used_ to being confined to, but it still succeeded in making him feel trapped, helpless and agitated.

"_Blood traitor, you will go to your room this instant and you will stay there! You should be ashamed of yourself! When you prove yourself worthy of being a Black, you can join us for dinner—until then, keep your filthy face hidden!"_

And so he would go to his room, because no one (especially not him) could win an argument with Walburga Black. And why would he want to? Sitting around the dinner table, discussing the various ways that Muggle-borns were corrupting the wizarding community was not his idea of a fun family dinner.

But, Merlin—he hated his room.

It was always dark (despite the fact that it had a large window), it was always dusty (because Kreacher refused to clean it), and though he had tried to make it as hospitable as possible, the Gryffindor banners and motorcycle posters didn't mesh well with the overall tone of the place (and usually only served as a reminder that he didn't mesh well either).

He didn't like being locked up; he was boisterous and reckless by nature—or nurture, depending on how you looked at it—and over the years, he had decided that there was nothing worse than being restricted to his room with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company.

Well…he supposed the situation he was in now could be worse.

The walls of _this_ room were white-washed and plain, shining eerily in the Ministry's fluorescent lighting. There were no windows, and the only door had two stony-faced, impersonal wizards currently standing in front of it—simultaneously preventing anyone from entering and anyone from escaping (which Sirius had earnestly considered attempting three times already).

At least he was able to climb out of his bedroom window if he so desired.

The only silver lining was that he was with his friends—although they weren't much help with the overwhelming boredom he was experiencing.

James was too busy sneaking looks at Lily, Lily was too busy dealing with the trauma of the afternoon, Remus was too busy steadfastly ignoring any of his attempts at making conversation, and Peter wasn't even there because he was too busy getting treated at St. Mungo's.

"I can't believe they're keeping us in here," Sirius said, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over them for what had to be the twentieth time (he was getting desperate for conversation). "I can't believe they've kept us in here for an _hour_."

"Sirius," Remus said tiredly, not lifting his head from where it rested in his hands. "Complaining about it isn't going to make this situation any better."

"Yeah, but it's going to make _me _feel better," he replied sullenly. No one answered and he shifted restlessly. "Do you know what else would make me feel better?"

Remus shook his head.

"Food," Sirius stated wistfully. "I'm _starving_. And I know I say I'm starving a lot—but this time I'm serious. I think my stomach might be trying to eat itself."

"I'm sorry."

After another moment of horrible, horrible silence, Sirius groaned loudly. "I can't believe they took our wands."

"They said it was standard procedure," Remus informed him almost immediately. "Apparently they need to log them before they start our interrogation."

"Yeah, but I _can't believe _they're going to interrogate us…"

Remus did not reply and James began to tap his fingers on the wooden table-top (again); the resounding beat sounded suspiciously like the song _Azkaban Chains _by The Jinx Brothers. In fact… it sounded _exactly _like that song. Sirius perked up at the opportunity to take the mickey out of James as his friend drummed out the beat to the chorus and he said: "I didn't know you liked The Jinx Brothers."

James looked up, surprised. "What? Oh, I…I don't."

"It sure sounds like you do," Remus added, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he finally lifted his head and looked around.

"I don't," James insisted, though the tips of his ears were turning red. It was almost _too _easy. "I heard it on the wireless this morning and it got stuck in my head."

"Sure," Remus muttered as Sirius started to sing the lyrics quietly.

"_And nooo-ooo, this isn't what I _wan-_ted; never thought I'd end up like _this_, the de-men-tors might give me a _kiss—"

"Padfoot," James muttered warningly, though it was obvious that he was trying to hide a smile.

So excited to finally have something to do, Sirius just grinned wider and sang louder: "—_your love is like Azkaban chains, girl! YEAH, YOUR LOVE—"_

"Padfoot!"

"—_HAS GOT ME WRITHIN' IN PAIN, GIRL!"_

Remus started laughing. "Don't be ashamed Prongs; it makes sense that you'd like the song. It's very fitting for someone in your predicament—since you're trapped in the throes of unrequited love and all…"

To Sirius's delight, James flushed brighter as he shot a panicked look at Evans. "Moony, shut _up_."

"The truth cannot be silenced, James!" Sirius proclaimed; his eyes glinting as he tried to catch Lily's gaze. "What do _you _think, Evans?"

Her eyes flicked up to meet his, but her expression was stony. His smile faltered. "I don't know, Black," she muttered. "But I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't joke around at a time like this."

He frowned. "At a time like what? I always joke around. Especially if I'm bored."

Lily gaped at him. "Wha…you're _bored?_"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you? Or do you enjoy staring at walls for _hours on end?_" He spoke the last part louder, hoping one of the wizards standing outside would hear, but neither of them gave any indication that they were aware of what was going on in the room.

"But—but—" Her eyes were bulging as she spluttered and he briefly wondered if she was going to combust."People are _dead!_ Peter is hurt—"

"Peter will be fine," Remus told her, his voice steady and calm like always. "The Healers said it was a cursed wound, but that he'd make a full recovery."

Lily huffed out an exasperated breath. "Well what about Mr. Clifford?"

"The muggle?" James asked.

"He wasn't _just _a muggle," Lily snapped, but her tone was much harsher than intended and James flinched as if he had been stung.

"I didn't mean to upset you Evans," Sirius interrupted, trying to head off an argument before it got started. The last thing he wanted to subject his ears to was a shouting match between James and Lily—which looked like it would definitely happen if James was given the chance to respond. Besides, who was he to judge how someone coped? If Evans couldn't handle humor, then he could find some other way to cure his boredom.

James, however, didn't understand the huge favor that Sirius was attempting to do for him, and he opened his big fat mouth anyways.

"Yeah, exactly, he didn't mean to upset you—so _why_ are you getting upset?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "That's _not _what I meant—"

Lily wasn't listening. "Why am I getting upset?" she repeated, her eyes narrowing at James. "Have you forgotten _everything _that happened?"

"No."

"So I think that I hav—"

"I get that Mr. Clifford was important to you," James cut her off, his voice tight and his eyes flashing behind his glasses. "But it wasn't our fault that he died."

"I didn't say—"

"So don't take it out on us!" he said sharply.

"I'm not!"

"Oh please," he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat. "You were about to."

"Prongs…" Remus muttered quietly, exchanging a wary glance with Sirius.

"Don't put words in my mouth," she said shortly, ignoring Remus. "You have no idea what I was about to do."

"Are you honestly going to tell me that you _weren't _about to yell at us for entertaining ourselves because you secretly hold us responsible for your boss's death?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in incredulity.

"You think you're _so_ smart," she muttered resentfully.

"I find it very interesting that you're not denying it," he pointed out smugly. And then, he did the worst possible thing he could do in this situation. He laughed. Sirius's eyes widened along with Lily's. If Sirius knew that that was the wrong thing to do, James _had _to know it was the wrong thing to do.

Then again, when it came to Lily Evans his judgment had always been horrible.

Remus nudged him in the side, trying to get him to do something, but Sirius ignored him. James and Lily often had arguments, and they often stomped off in opposite directions when it was over. Sirius found himself extremely curious as to what would happen when they realized that there was no way to get away from each other—if Remus didn't want them to fight, he was going to have to stop it himself.

Lily was busy looking like she was going to combust again. "Well _you're _the ones who brought the death eaters to the shop!" she cried shrilly.

James blanched, his feigned haughtiness disappearing in an instant. "Not intentionally!"

"Well you should've known better than to hide in a muggle shop! That's basic planning—"

"We were _not _hiding," Sirius growled defensively, but Lily was still going and she paid him no heed.

"What were you thinking? Oh, we're being chased by dark wizards—how about we head to a place that's bound to have one or two innocent muggles hanging about?"

James was glaring at her through narrow eyes. "You _would_ know all about doing things you shouldn't."

"And what is _that _supposed to mean?" she demanded, bristling.

"Lily," Remus tried to interrupt.

"_You_ should've known better than to jump on that ruddy counter and proclaim to the death eaters that you're a muggle-born—"

"But—"

"—_especially_ when you didn't have your wand!"

"Oh, please—like you even care!"

Now James was the one spluttering. "Wha—WHAT? Oh my _god_—EVANS—"

"James—" Remus tried again.

Lily waved her arms through the air agitatedly, efficiently cutting them both off. "I was just trying to help! I wanted to cause a diversion to distract the death eaters and help protect Mr. Clifford."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe Mr. Clifford wouldn't have wanted you to put yourself in harm's way for him? He's an old man who has led a long life—you've barely started yours!"

"Well I couldn't just _leave _him!" she cried.

"I would've protected him!"

"Just because I'm a _girl_ does not mean that I can't help people!"

"That has nothing to do with our argument!" James bellowed, gripping his hair in frustration. "In case you haven't noticed, I _like _the fact that you're a girl!"

"You are so—"

"Guys!" Remus interrupted firmly, before throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly as they continued to pretend like he wasn't around. Sirius wondered briefly if they _weren't _pretending—and if they had actually gotten so wrapped up in each other that they'd forgotten that there were others around.

"You need to stop _blaming_ me for shit that I_ wasn't responsible _for!"

Sirius caught the reference immediately (it was hard to forget what James's face had looked like when Lily had accused him of driving Snivellus to call her a Mudblood). Lily seemed to understand too, for she stopped shouting and stared at him, a mixture of emotions cascading over her face too quickly for Sirius to decipher.

"Alright—fucking..._fine_!" Lily exclaimed, and all three of the boys were shocked to hear that her voice was wavering dangerously. Was she going to start crying? Sirius eyed James, who was now watching her in alarm. "What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say sorry?"

James blinked, looking like he'd rather just run himself headfirst into the nearest wall. "Er…"

"I'm sorry!" she choked out, letting out a strangled sob and effectively preventing any of them from pretending like they didn't know she was crying. She slapped away the few tears that had escaped impatiently. "Does that make you happy?"

Sirius began to regret his decision not to stop the fight.

"Er…"

"Well?" she demanded, her voice high. "Does it?"

"Merlin—Evans, _no_," James finally managed to say, raking a hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Well, it should," she said, her voice still thick and shaky, but remarkably more subdued than before. Her shoulders sagged suddenly and she gave a mighty sniff. "I shouldn't…I shouldn't have tried to blame you for something that was ultimately my fault."

Remus seemed to have had enough of being ignored, because as James's mouth fell open, Remus pushed himself away from the table and strode over to wedge himself between the two quarrelers.

He knelt down, snapping his fingers in her face to get her attention. "Lily," he said softly, and her eyes focused on him blearily. "It was _not _your fault that Mr. Clifford died."

"But if I had had my wand—"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, God. Can we please not get into some, like, philosophical debate over what _could've _happened? We know what _did _happen and all we can do is deal with that."

"It was not your fault," Remus repeated. "And it was not _our_ fault. It was the death eater's fault and his fault alone. Alright?"

She nodded after a moment, letting out a shaky breath.

"And just for the record," he said lowly, "what Snape did wasn't your fault either."

At length she said (very quietly): "I know."

"Would you like a hug?" he asked kindly, and she nodded again—quicker this time—as another sob escaped her.

Remus wrapped his arms carefully around her, sighing tiredly as she clung to him tightly. And for the first time, Sirius saw Lily Evans as a person. Not as a prefect and not as a fellow Gryffindor—but as a person, who was scared and had feelings other than anger and happiness and who actually looked kind of small and fragile despite all of the confidence she normally possessed.

James was watching them with ill-disguised jealousy and Sirius felt his lips quirk into a smile.

He was so hopeless.

His eyes moved to Remus, who looked as if he was scared that he might break the red-headed girl if he hugged her too strongly; he observed Lily, who already looked a little broken; he thought of Peter and how he always tried too hard to please everyone; he even thought of himself and how he _couldn't _please everyone.

Maybe, deep inside, they were _all_ a little hopeless.

* * *

Lily chewed nervously on her lip, watching James Potter fidget out of the corner of her eye. It was astounding, really, the way that he never stopped moving. He was always either jiggling his leg or twirling his wand or adjusting his glasses or messing with a quill or examining an object or tousling his hair or tapping his fingers or…

She could probably go on forever.

It was quite annoying actually.

He was always _doing _something and distracting her from important things like homework or (in this case) self-reflection.

She watched him rip a foil chocolate wrapper that he had found in his pocket into tiny pieces and wondered if it was a coincidence that he had been fidgeting around much more since they'd had their argument.

Probably not.

If she was being honest with herself, she'd probably feel calmer if she had something to fiddle with as well.

They always gravitated _much too close_ to each other when they fought, and today he had been near enough so that she could see the shifting flecks of gold in his eyes. She hated when she was near enough to notice things—it made her lose focus.

"Hey, let me borrow those," Sirius suddenly murmured, reaching over Lily's body to scoop the pile of shredded foil away from James.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

Sirius jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating Remus—who had managed to fall asleep and was now snoring softly. "I'm gonna see how many foil pieces I can flick into his hair before he wakes up!" he whispered, smiling excitedly.

"O-kay…"

Lily snorted softly, unable to hide her amusement and Sirius gave her a grin, patting her lightly on the back. "Feeling better?"

She raised an eyebrow at his seemingly sincere expression. "A little bit."

She wasn't completely fine, not really, but she had cried out all of her grief (first at the shop and then at the Ministry). Mr. Clifford wasn't a family member and he wasn't a close friend, but it was still a tragedy, and it shouldn't have happened. And even though Lily was now able to think about him without feeling the urge to break down in tears and she was still scared and sad and angry, she was starting to think things were funny again. She wondered if that made her a cold person, or if that was just how things worked.

"Good," Sirius said approvingly. "Of course, I always knew that you'd be able to get through this."

"You did?"

He nodded. "Duh. You're a Gryffindor."

A weak smile graced her face as she cocked her head to the side. "Thanks."

He shrugged, before rolling a miniscule foil ball between two fingers. "Now, watch carefully, Evans. I'm going to demonstrate the ancient art of ball-flicking."

She had to stifle another snort. "Can't wait."

He set the foil carefully on the table, squinting one eye as he lined up the angle. With a precise flick, the foil shot through the air and nestled itself in Remus's sandy locks.

Sirius pumped a fist in the air, cheering softly. "Yes!"

Lily giggled softly, turning away as Sirius began to set up his next shot. James, she noticed, was now staring intently at a spot on the table, and she cast her eyes downwards as well, tugging on a piece of her hair nervously.

For all of his faults (and for all of her complaints), James Potter seemed like he was a pretty decent person. He fought off death eaters without a second thought and he said what he was thinking and he was brilliant in classes. Only a few hours prior, he had willingly supported her body weight and had even refused to go anywhere with the Aurors until a Healer came and fixed her leg.

She had always assumed that he was arrogant and unfeeling—but what if he wasn't? What if she had been wrong about him?

She had obviously been wrong about Severus, and they had been _best friends_.

Was it so hard to believe that she could have misjudged James Potter, when the majority of the time spent with each other was spent arguing?

Lily sighed.

She needed to apologize. It hadn't been fair of her to take out her frustrations on him; she was actually a little ashamed of her erratic behavior, and though she didn't know for sure what percentage of him was arrogant and what percentage of him was noble, she figured that he deserved an apology all the same.

"James?" she asked quietly.

His head angled towards her, his eyes wide in surprise. A hand went to his hair almost immediately. "Yeah?"

She took a breath. "I—"

"_What _are you _doing?_" The very annoyed voice of Remus Lupin sounded from behind them, and Lily turned to find him looking around blearily, tiny pinpricks of gold shining throughout his hair and Sirius grinning proudly.

"I got fifteen," he whispered to Lily. "Sorry, Moony," he continued at a louder volume. "I didn't mean for that to go in your ear—I was just messing around."

Remus shot him a dirty look, but shrugged after a moment, stretching his arms up behind his head. "I'm just grateful you didn't wake me up on purpose as soon as I got to sleep…"

Shaking her head, Lily swiveled back to James, grinning slightly. She was surprised to find that he was still watching her, and she suddenly, inexplicably, felt bashful about giving him an apology when she knew Sirius and Remus would be listening in.

"Potter—I…er...I'll tell you later."

He shrugged, and the apathetic gesture made her wonder if he really _was_ as arrogant as she had believed all along.

* * *

"I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME, YOU GREAT PRICKS!"

Lily watched Sirius yell through the door in mild amusement. "Is it acceptable to call Ministry wizards 'pricks'?" she wondered aloud.

Remus snorted. "No. He's going to get us all in trouble."

The young wizard began to pace back and forth agitatedly, his black hair looking uncharacteristically disheveled. "IF YOU DON'T SEND SOMEONE IN HERE, I'M GOING TO FORCE MY WAY OUT!" He punctuated his statement with a violent bang on the door.

"Getting in trouble would be better than _this_," James said disgustedly. "We've been in here for hours. The least they could do is tell us what's going on."

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!" Sirius bellowed.

"Maybe they're interrogating the death eaters," Lily mused. "That would explain why they're taking so long."

"I doubt they'll get anything out of them," James muttered, shaking his head. "If that's what they've been doing, then they've just been wasting their time. And ours."

"They _may _have gotten something out of them," Lily chided. "Don't be so pessimistic."

He raised an eyebrow, but before he could answer, the door (mercifully) opened and an unfamiliar wizard strode inside, slamming the wooden door shut behind him. His eyes were small and beady, and Lily thought she detected a glimmer of annoyance as he appraised them.

"_Finally_," Sirius breathed. "Have you come to let us out?"

"No," the man said, scratching his brown goatee. "Sit down."

"But—"

"The sooner you cooperate, the sooner you can get out of here."

James scoffed, ignoring the warning glare Lily sent his way. "We've been willing to cooperate for four hours. The sooner _you_ do your job, the sooner we can get out of here."

The wizard scratched his goatee again, staring at James curiously for a few moments before deciding that he wasn't worth his time.

"You can call me Parker," he said shortly, turning around to face Sirius. "Sit down," he said again.

Grudgingly, Sirius obeyed, and Lily sat up straighter, willing to do anything to ensure their speedy release. All she wanted was a bath and a hug from her mother and a nice long slumber in her bed. As a precaution, she readied her elbows (just in case she had to throw some sharp jabs in anyone's side).

Remus spoke, and the suspicion in his voice caught Lily's attention. "Are you an Auror?"

Parker smiled, and the action sent chills down her spine. Unconsciously, she dropped her elbows as he began to speak. "No. I'm from the Misuse of Magic department."

James's jaw dropped. "Is this some sort of joke?" he asked

"A joke?" The older man thought for a moment, conjuring a high-backed chair and poising himself delicately on it. "No," he finally said, "this isn't a joke. I'm here to discuss your options."

"Our _options_?" James repeated, sounding completely outraged. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed that he was clenching and unclenching his fists—a nervous habit of his—and it made her wonder whether their situation was worse than she had realized.

Parker chuckled, giving them all a horribly patronizing look. "You preformed an extremely large quantity of magic in the middle of a muggle neighborhood. Several muggles had to have their memory altered, and one is dead."

Lily felt sick. "We know."

"You do realize that he was murdered by a _death eater_," Sirius emphasized, leaning forward across the table. "Are you suggesting that we should have just _let _them kill us and every other muggle in the surrounding vicinity?"

"No—"

"So how can you fault us for using magic?" Remus asked. His voice was level, but his tone was icy.

Parker glared at him. "Miss Evans," he said without preamble, "would you care to explain why your wand was not in the box we intercepted from the Auror office?"

"I-I didn't have my wand on me at the time of the attack," she answered.

He raised an eyebrow, his beady eyes flicking over her uninterestedly. "Then however did you fight? If I'm not mistaken, the official report says that you were instrumental in the capture of the two death eaters."

"I managed to get ahold of one of their wands," she said slowly. "But if you read the report, then you already know that." Beside her, Sirius grinned at her cold tone.

He nodded once. "That _is_ what the report says. I'm just having a hard time believing that someone like youcould have disarmed a full-grown death eater _without _the use of magic, and then succeed in taking down two of them." He paused. "It just seems a little…far-fetched."

Lily shrugged. "Well, it's true."

He eyed her and she could feel James stiffen in his chair. "You're a muggle-born, aren't you?"

"Er…yes—but I don't really see what that has to do with anything—"

"It has to do with everything. Muggle-borns are statistically less powerful than purebloods and—"

"That is _not _true," James interrupted. "Evans is plenty powerful. She managed to surprise two death eaters who obviously under-estimated her—just as you are. There's nothing 'far-fetched' about that." As he finished, he squared his jaw and stared down Parker, who was watching him interestedly.

Lily shot James a grateful glance, but he didn't seem to see.

Remus cleared his throat. "As fascinating as Lily is, I don't understand what her actions have to do with the Misuse of Magic office."

"If she is telling the truth about her actions," Parker said, "then she has committed a serious offence. Stealing another wizard's wand is widely frowned upon."

"Oh, come on—" she started to protest at the same time as the boys, but the older wizard talked over them.

"This offence, in addition to the wide-spread use of magic in front of numerous muggles, has left us no choice but to prosecute you."

"_Prosecute _us?" Lily repeated shrilly. This surely had to be the worst day of her life up-to-date.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door banged open and a different wizard strode inside. He was taller than Parker and had thick black hair that was intermixed with varying hues of grays. Though he was clearly in his older years, there was nothing frail about him; he had a straight nose and a strong jaw and was infinitely more intimidating.

He locked eyes with Parker and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Could I have a word?" he asked brusquely, adjusting a pair of glasses impatiently.

He seemed like he was influential—he was dressed like a wealthy man, in dress shoes and a velvet cloak and carried a comforting air of superiority around him—Parker gave him a curt nod before standing up and following him to the doorframe.

James, Sirius, and Remus had all visibly relaxed upon this wizard's entrance and Lily followed suit, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Don't worry," Remus assured her, "we'll be getting out of here any minute now."

She gave him a brief smile before turning her attention to the two wizards by the door. Parker was standing stock-still, though a red flush was climbing his neck and the other man was gesturing wildly, muttering angrily under his breath so Lily could only hear snippets such as: "Why the hell wasn't I informed earlier?" and "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Lily found herself immensely grateful towards this stranger. "Wow." She raised an eyebrow in his direction. Although he was older, he _was _quite appealing. "Who's tall, dark, and handsome?" she murmured.

Sirius began to choke as James shifted in his chair—eyeing her with equal levels of horror and humor. He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"What—?" she asked, looking at all of them in confusion.

"Y—you think he's 'tall, dark, and _handsome_'?" James asked.

She shrugged. "Well—yes. I only asked because it seems like you recognize him. Has he been in the papers recently? It wouldn't surprise me," she added as an afterthought. "He does seem like he would be _incredibly_ photogenic."

Sirius made a strangled sort of noise, ducking his head as he valiantly tried to refrain from laughing.

"Evans," James said slowly, his eyebrows disappearing into his hair as a rather large smirk blossomed across his face. "That's my _father._"

Lily felt her cheeks inflame at once.

Of course it would be James Potter's father.

Of bloody course.

"Oh…my _God_," Sirius wheezed from beside her, shaking with the strain of holding back his laughter. "Oh Merlin—holy—_Moony_—did you—did you hear what Evans just _said_?"

He looked away from the two wizards that he had been concentrating on and over at her red face curiously. "No. Was it funny?"

"_Funny_? It was the funniest fucking thing I've heard all day—"

Lily cut him off with a sharp elbow to the gut. "Say another word, Black," she warned, her cheeks still burning, "and prepare to die."

"You have a crush on my _father_," James pointed out, his smarmy grin threatening to split his face in half. "You can't honestly expect Sirius to keep quiet about that, can you?"

"Lily has a crush on your father?" Remus asked, just as Sirius exploded into snickers.

"_I do not have a crush on your father_!" she hissed, giving each of them a good glare. "I was obviously kidding!"

James pulled a face. "If you say so."

Sirius was still trying to stop laughing. "Tall, dark—and _handsome_—oh—holy shit—"

"Don't worry Lily," Remus said, leaning over Sirius to give her a small smile, "I understand. The heart wants what the heart wants."

Lily moaned lowly, dropping her hands into her head. "I hate all of you."

"Not true," James pointed out cheerily. "If you like my father, than you must like me. There is a very strong familial resemblance, after all."

Lily felt her cheeks flushing darker (if that was even possible). Now that she knew they were related, it was sickeningly easy to detect the resemblance. He was tall just like his son, had the same nose and jawline, the same bad eyesight, the same habit of fidgeting incessantly when he was upset, the same unruly hair—_God_, how had she not realized this before she opened her big mouth?

"Yes, but—" she struggled for something to defend herself with. Just because she happened to think James Potter's father was attractive, did not mean she thought _James_ was attractive. Okay, well, obviously he was a little attractive—she had admitted that long ago—but there were more important things than good genes (like a sense of moral obligation and kindness and things that James didn't possess), and for the love of everything magical in the world, James did not need to _know _that she thought he was okay-looking. "I was kidding, so your argument is void."

James rolled his eyes. "It's alright to admit it, Evans."

"But—"

"Kids," his father called abruptly, striding back over towards them. "Kids, we're leaving."

With a start, Lily noticed that Parker was gone.

"_Thank_ _Merlin_," Sirius said reverently, standing up hurriedly. "Good God, I thought we were all going to rot in here."

"Don't worry," Mr. Potter said distractedly, clapping him on the shoulder as he motioned for the others to hurry up. "Your parents wouldn't let that happen." He paused. "Well, _your_ parents might."

Lily looked sharply at Sirius—what did _that _mean?—but Sirius wasn't watching her, and she figured his family life wasn't really her business either.

He gave a small bark of laughter. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Dad," James said as he scrambled around the table, smoothing down his hair. "How did you get them to let us go?"

His father gave a (very familiar) crooked smile. "Well, it depends on your definition of 'let go'. Lupin, what's in your hair, son?"

Remus frowned and reached up a hand to ruffle it. "I don't—" he broke off as little foil balls cascaded to the floor. "_Sirius!_"

Sirius darted from the room, grinning evilly and Mr. Potter followed immediately.

Remus gave a huff of annoyance.

"Dad," James tried again as made their way down the hallway. Lily struggled to keep up with them. "If we weren't let go, why are we leaving?"

"Well, if we're gone by the time they come back, then there's really nothing they can do, right?"

Lily frowned. "Er…that's not illegal, is it?" she asked apprehensively as she broke into a light jog to keep pace with them.

Mr. Potter looked over at her, surprised. "I am so sorry," he said. "How rude of me—I didn't even introduce myself. I'm David Potter, James's father."

She nodded politely. "I'm Lily Evans, James's...classmate."

"Oh!" he said loudly, and rather excitedly. "Lily Evans! Of course! I should have realized!"

"Er…" she stuttered, a little taken aback as they clattered down a set of stairs. "You know who I am?"

"Well, of course I do! James—"

"_Dad!"_ he said sharply, ruffling his hair with one hand.

Mr. Potter pursed his lips, eyeing his son. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said finally, offering her an open smile. "Although I do wish it were under different circumstances."

"As do I," she said wryly, making Sirius explode into snickers behind her once more.

"What kind of circumstances, Evans?" he asked lowly in her ear. "Circumstances that involve a bed—?" She took a moment to stomp on his foot, feeling a sadistic sense of pleasure when he whimpered in pain.

In a flourish of movement, Mr. Potter swung open a door at the bottom of the stairs and the five of them spilled out into the atrium. "Let's go home," he suggested. "I'll explain everything there."

The three boys took off after him, talking excitedly, but Lily hung behind.

She needed to find a way home, but she had no idea where to start. She couldn't floo there, she couldn't apparate, she couldn't use a broom, she didn't have money for public transportation…

With her luck, she'd probably end up crouched under a bridge somewhere in east London.

"Evans!"

The shout interrupted her worried thoughts.

She looked up to find James turned around, watching her strangely.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back towards her. Remus and Sirius watched him go for a minute before rolling their eyes and trotting over to meet Mr. Potter.

"Er…well, I was trying to figure out how to actually _get _home," she admitted. "I seem to be stranded."

He rolled his eyes, looking down at her with a small smile. "We're going to floo," he said, gesturing towards the other boys and his father who were now standing by one of the marble fireplaces. "We should probably get going soon. And by soon, I mean now."

She sighed. "Well, that's all fine and dandy except my house isn't connected to the floo network. My family is full of muggles—remember?"

Surprisingly, he let out a loud laugh. Lily blinked at him. "Evans—you didn't think we were going to make you go back to _your _house, did you?"

"Where else would I go?"

"_My _house."

"But—"

"My dad is going to explain everything to us—and I'm sure you have a million questions if your behavior in class is any indication."

"Well, _sor-ry_ for being curious," she muttered tartly.

"It's okay Evans; it's one of the things I like about you."

She snorted. "I thought you liked e_verything _about me," she said sardonically, remembering his less than subtle attempts at getting her to go on a date with him last year.

"And I thought _you _were smart enough to realize when you were about to make a stupid decision," he said without missing a beat. "I can't remember much about muggle transportation at the moment, but they can't be that safe. Just relax and come with us and we'll get this all straightened out and then my father will bring you home. Alright?"

His words were calm and confident and he turned away and began moving towards the fireplace, leaving Lily to follow him. She did, of course, because he was right. She _did _have a million questions and it _was _safer to let Mr. Potter take her home rather than try and make it all the way back to Cokeworth on her own.

Besides, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious what James Potter's house looked like.

She fell into step behind James, watching his back curiously because just then he hadn't sounded arrogant at all. He had been acting decent again. As they reached the others, she wondered if she would ever fully figure him out.


	3. June 25th: Part III

_a/n: Hello, hello, hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and such; you all are too sweet! :) I think I forgot to do a disclaimer, so even though everyone probably knows this I'll just say that J.K. Rowling owns a great majority of the characters and places in this story. And now, without further ado, here's chapter three. I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think!_

* * *

Lily was in James Potter's parlor.

James Potter had a _parlor_.

If someone would have told Lily Evans that today would be the most insane day of her life—that she would duel death eaters, witness Mr. Clifford's murder, almost get arrested by the ministry only to be rescued by a handsome David Potter, and end the day in James Potter's parlor—she would have laughed out loud.

There was a part of her that wanted to laugh out loud even _now_, even as she was living it.

She sighed, looking around the spacious room, trying to sort out her thoughts. This didn't look like a place James Potter would live. It was much too serene, much too elegant for a boy who liked to chew with his mouth open and make crude jokes. There were mahogany tables and a floor to ceiling bookshelf and what looked like a fancy wet bar in the corner. Her eyes drifted lazily to the window, where the setting sun was shining blood-red rays through the glass and refracting patterns onto the cool cream walls around her.

She watched them with interest until they started to remind her of blood spatter.

She wondered idly if she would have nightmares when she got home.

Probably.

Her morbid thoughts were interrupted by Sirius Black giving a loud laugh from across the room, and she looked curiously over to where they were huddled. The three boys looked almost incomplete without Peter Pettigrew, like there was some sort of missing link. They looked happy enough—Sirius was reclining sideways in a chair, his head and legs lolling off of either side; Remus had folded himself into the next chair, his chin resting on one knee as he listened good-naturedly to his friend's banter; and James was leaning against the wall, a tuft of hair falling over one eye and a smirk upon his lips—but there was a tiny gap between Sirius and Remus, a gap that she felt sure little Peter Pettigrew would fill had he not been in the hospital.

They were taking the day's events so well it seemed like they fought death eaters every day, and suddenly Lily felt thankful that she had gone through this day with the Marauders by her sides. She didn't know _what _she would have done without Remus's hugs and Sirius's jokes and the familiarity of James Potter's infuriating behavior.

Just as her eyes wandered over to James once more (for it appeared that he was the one Sirius was laughing at), his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

She looked away almost immediately, feeling embarrassed for no real reason. She had caught James Potter looking at her plenty of times, and there was nothing wrong with him catching her—especially because she hadn't even been _staring. _She had been casually observing all three of them. If he wanted to think it was something different, then that was his problem: She was still Lily Evans and they were still the Marauders and just because she was grateful, there was no way—

"All right there, Evans?"

She turned to find James Potter standing there, hands shoved in his pocket, head cocked to the side.

The image, framed by the setting sun, was horribly alluring.

She cleared her throat, and attributed the thought to some sort of head injury she had probably ascertained. "Erm…yeah. Yeah, just tired."

"I don't blame you; I'm pretty exhausted myself."

She nodded, searching for something to say, but James beat her to it. "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," she said quickly, and then immediately regretted it. Tea would be nice; it would help her relax.

He shrugged and dragged a chair over near her, dropping into it with an exhale. "My mom will probably be bringing some anyways, if you change your mind."

"Alright." Another silence fell, but this time she was able to break it. "How come you never told me you were rich?"

He snorted, languidly stretching out his long legs in front of him. "Evans, we've never had a proper conversation."

"That—That's not true."

"Alright, so we've had some civil conversations," he conceded. "But they've all been about unimportant things—like homework or the latest Quidditch match. When do you suppose I should've told you this information?"

She frowned. Did he really think those things were unimportant? She could've sworn that he lived and breathed for Quidditch games. "You could have told me in the ministry," she pointed out. She wasn't angry with him, but she _did_ feel a bit embarrassed at her reaction upon stumbling out of the fire and into his incredibly ornate living room (she had loudly proclaimed that they must have come out at the wrong gate and actually laughed when James told her there had been no mistake). "I was expecting a nice, _normal _house. Your father probably thinks I'm a complete prat because all I could do was gawk while he gave me the grand tour!"

"The grand tour?" He repeated incredulously. "There's nothing grand tour-ish about the walk from my living room."

"I counted no less than _three_ sitting rooms on the way here. Four if you count the one we're in now, but I don't know if I should because your father specifically called it 'the parlor.' _Plus_, I heard Sirius talking about the lake that is apparently in your backyard!"

"I do not have a _lake _in my backyard. It's just a swimming hole," he said, quirking his lips up crookedly. "And I think 'parlor' is just a fancy name for 'sitting room.'"

Lily whistled. "I never thought I'd see the day where James Potter was _modest_."

"_I _never thought I'd see the day where Lily Evans lusted after my father."

"I didn't!" she cried immediately, feeling a bright blush stain her cheeks as Sirius (who had somehow heard the last comment) broke down into laughter again. "And I swear to Merlin, Potter—if you spread that rumor around school…I…I will tell everyone that you shoved your tongue down Sadie Winthrop's throat!"

Sirius gave a loud gasp as Remus looked aghast. They both clambered out of their chairs and pulled them closer to where James and Lily were sitting. "You snogged _Sadie Winthrop_?"

"Ewww!" Sirius yelled. "She has horse teeth!"

"No!" he protested, sitting up straighter in his chair, as Lily scowled at him. "I didn't! You can't just go around telling people shit that's not true, Evans!"

"You're calling the kettle black, _Pot_-ter."

"Har har. Very funny, Evans."

"I'm not trying to be funny!" she exclaimed, letting out a frustrated huff. "God—why do you always do this?"

"Wha—do what?" he asked, running a hand through his hair swiftly.

She vaguely heard Remus give a weary sigh, but ignored him.

"We were getting along just fine and then you had to ruin it by trying to embarrass me!"

"I wasn't trying to embarrass you—"

"Like hell, you weren't."

"Well…fine, so I was," he admitted. She took in a breath to berate him and he pressed on hurriedly, scooting forward so he was perched on the edge of his seat. "But it's only because you look pretty when you blush—"

"Sod off—"

"—and it's not like you were an innocent bystander in this—you're the one who started making up stories. At least _my _story's true!"

"I was not _lusting _after your father," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms tightly over her body as Sirius started laughing again (would he ever cease to find it funny?).

"_You _didn't see your face. There were definite lustful thoughts happening."

"You're just jealous because I've never looked at _you _with that face."

It was James's turn to redden slightly. "Am not," he muttered sullenly just as the French doors opened and James's parents entered the room.

"Mrs. P!" Sirius exclaimed happily as she set a silver tea tray on a table.

Content to let the subject rest for the moment—and absolutely _praying _that James wasn't such an arse that he'd continue the topic with David Potter himself in the room—Lily sat back in her chair and steadfastly ignored the annoyed looks she could feel James giving her.

* * *

"_Son…do you know what persistence means?"_

James had been twelve years old when his father had taken him aside and asked him this. Prepared for a lecture (as he had just gotten done breaking a large portion of his mother's vase collection trying to perfect his aim with a Quaffle), he had been pleasantly surprised when this is all his father had said to him.

"_Persistence means that you don't give up…and I can see that you obviously haven't given up on your dream of being a Chaser for the Gryffindors. Now, your mother will probably be very upset if she finds out what you've done; and plenty of other women may very well hate the fact that you're persistent as well—but I think it's one of your best qualities. Persistence is good; it gets things done, James. Don't ever forget that."_

He hadn't.

In fact, he had taken that speech to heart because the very next year he had been made a Chaser at the measly age of thirteen. His father was right; persistence got things done.

When he was fifteen, he had cornered Lily Evans after class, put on his best smile, and said: _"You're really pretty, Evans—you know that?"_

"_Oh…er, thanks." _She'd blushed and he'd liked it.

"_Want to come to Hogsmeade with me?"_

"_Hogsmeade? With you?" _Her green eyes were wide. "_Er—well, I'm flattered Potter, but…no thank you."_

Thankfully, James Potter never took "no thank you" as an answer.

* * *

"So," Mr. Potter said loudly, setting a box down onto the table and taking a seat on the arm of a chair. "Am I right in assuming that you all have a lot of questions over what transpired today?"

"Yes," James answered, finally turning his attention away from Lily and onto his father. "For starters: How did you know where we were?"

He held up the box and shook it, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he did so. "Alastor Moody sent these wands back with a note telling me to thank you all for your help and to be much more careful in the future."

Lily felt a rush of gratitude towards the Auror—for being one of the only people that seemed to appreciate what they had done.

"I couldn't understand why he didn't just give the wands back to you directly, seeing as you were still at the Ministry. Heather," he said, gesturing to his wife who was now leaning coolly against the doorframe, "had a feeling that something was wrong, so I decided to floo there immediately and see what was going on. When I got there, he said that you had all been dismissed hours ago."

"Wait a minute…" Sirius said slowly, his usually unperturbed expression contorted in confusion. "Are you telling me that we _weren't _supposed to be kept in a room for four hours?"

He nodded grimly. "You were all supposed to be escorted home immediately."

"I knew it was complete bollocks for the Misuse of Magic Office to be questioning us," James muttered darkly.

"But why would they do that?" Lily asked, frowning. "I mean, is it possible that it was all just a misunderstanding? It makes sense that the Misuse of Magic Office would want to talk to us seeing as how muggles were involved—"

"Unfortunately," Mr. Potter informed her, "it looks as though your temporary imprisonment was completely intentional. Sure, the head of the office is going to _claim_ it was a misunderstanding, but the thing is—there are laws protecting people from getting in trouble if they use magic for self-defense, like you all did. The Misuse of Magic Office had no right to keep you for so long. Now, I don't know what they said to you—"

"They threatened us with a trial," Remus spoke up.

"A trial?" Mr. Potter repeated, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. He looked adorably bewildered. Mrs. Potter on the other hand, looked positively irate.

"Those bastards threatened you with a _trial_?" she demanded, taking a step inside the room. Her eyes were blazing, and Lily found it strange that such venom was coursing through what seemed to be a pleasant woman (judging from the shocked looks on the boys' faces, so were they). "On what grounds?"

"I think it was mainly my fault," Lily said softly, flushing slightly as all eyes turned to hers. "I took a death eater's wand in the fight, and that Parker bloke made it sound like that was a big deal…"

"You took a death eater's wand?" Mr. Potter asked, sounding slightly impressed.

"Well…yes. I didn't have my own, and—"

"Then how did you manage to take it?"

"She was awesome," Sirius put in, sounding excited. "None of us know how she did it: One minute she was standing on a counter shouting that they were all tossers and then she threw a jar at one of them and probably cracked their skull in half; one of the death eaters started going after her and I told her to run, but the next thing I knew, he was stunned and she was blasting another death eater away from me with his wand!"

"It's really not—not as impressive as that," she said, feeling her face heat up even more as everyone continued to look at her. "I…well, I just figured that they weren't expecting to be attacked in muggle ways, and I was kind of desperate…so when the death eater came at me, I…" she paused, chewing at her lip in embarrassment. "I threw a sack of flour in his face and kicked him in the balls," she said finally. "And then I stole his wand before he could recover and stupefied him."

There was a moment of stunned silence before the boys (Mr. Potter included) burst out into raucous laughter. Mrs. Potter was smirking faintly at her across the room, and she felt her own lips curve up in a sort of proud smile before she retrieved a cup of tea from the tray and took a sip.

"That is genius," James admitted almost grudgingly, giving her a wide smile that she returned without thinking (their previous argument already having slipped her mind). "_Stupid_ as _hell_, but genius."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

Remus grinned at her, leaning forward to catch her eye. "Trust me, it was supposed to be. He just has trouble articulating the words 'Good job' sometimes."

Sirius was looking rather shocked. "I am actually…_jealous _of Lily Evans," he said softly. "I have never wanted to be a law-abiding ginger more—if only to feel the satisfaction that undoubtedly accompanies kneeing a death eater in the groin."

She laughed, but her happiness faded almost instantaneously when she remembered why she had retold the story in the first place. Taking another sip of tea to calm her sudden feeling of guilt, she said: "Honestly, I didn't know that taking his wand was so bad, I—"

"It's not," David Potter assured her instantly. "That's why it makes no sense for them to threaten you with a trial. It was well within your rights to take his wand from him…" he paused, rubbing a hand over his face. "They must have…they _must_ have been playing some sort of angle—trying to intimidate you, perhaps…"

Remus cleared his throat. "I agree," he said. "When Parker first came in, he said that he was there to 'discuss our options,' but he never gave us an option besides prosecution."

Mr. Potter snapped his fingers. "That has to be it. They wanted to frighten you enough so that you would want to go with the other option, but I interrupted before they could secure the deal.…What could they—" he stopped suddenly, whipping around to look at his wife with a grave face. "You don't think…?"

She seemed to understand the second half of his unspoken question and she nodded. "It makes the most sense, given the circumstances."

He paused and Lily took another sip of her tea. She was beginning to feel nervous again. "Should I tell them?"

"Might as well."

"Right. Well…" he paused, and scratched his nose. "This is strictly conjecture, mind you…but…Parker has been on the list of suspected death eaters for a while now."

"_What?_" Sirius exploded, looking scandalized. Lily felt a shiver go up her spine. "Why doesn't someone do something?!"

"Nothing _to_ do," Mr. Potter answered heavily. "No proof. But…if he _is _a death eater—or at least under Voldemort's control—then it makes sense that he would try to scare you all into submission. You know…try to keep you quiet about the whole fiasco. It wouldn't look too good for Voldemort if word got around that five sixteen year-olds not only evaded death eaters, but _captured _two of them. It might diminish the fear he's trying to spread." He paused, chewing his words around in his mouth as the four of them sat dumbly in front of him. "Plus, the head of the office wouldn't protest that course of action too much, because avoiding a news story would keep the Ministry from looking bad as well. A lot of people don't want it to seem like the Ministry is losing control."

"But it seems like the Ministry _is _losing control," Lily pointed out, suddenly angry. They had been in the same room as a suspected _death eater _and no one seemed to care!

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Especially if people _inside_ the Ministry are working for the other side!"

"It's stupid to pretend like everything's okay when it isn't," she went on and Mr. Potter nodded.

"It is. Unfortunately, there's not much else we can do. Moody and I have been working on a plan, but it will be a long time before it's ready to be put into action—"

"That's enough, David," Heather Potter said from where she stood behind him, arms still crossed tightly over her chest. "They have enough answers for now. We certainly shouldn't treat them like adults, when they've acted like children."

"Mum!" James exclaimed in protest, his expression darkening. "We've had an awful day—you think you could be a little nicer?"

"It's your own fault for getting into this situation in the first place—you'd think that you lot'd know better than to go off and get in fights with death eaters!" she said sharply, glaring at the four children in front of her. Lily shrunk back into her seat slightly, preparing for some sort of lecture, but Mrs. Potter's anger seemed to dissipate almost immediately.

She slumped back against the wall, running a hand over her face. "Moody said Peter was in St. Mungo's," she said finally. "Do any of you have any ideas what I could bake him? I want to give you boys something to bring to him when you go visit."

There was a short, uncomfortable silence that Remus broke quickly. "He really likes that chocolate cherry torte you make sometimes." His voice was even quieter than normal.

She nodded once. "Thank you." Suddenly her eyes were blazing again. "And I'd appreciate it if you all didn't act so _reckless _in the future."

There were mumbled assents from around the room, but James remained perfectly still, his mouth agape like he couldn't understand why his mother was mad at _them _instead of the death eaters.

Lily, however, thought she understood.

James himself had seemed furious with her during the battle, and the Auror that had collected them at the end of the ordeal (Moody, she now realized) had been similarly cross.

Perhaps, she mused, people had been angry with them because they had been _scared_. And perhaps people had been scared because they had cared about the sixteen year olds involved.

Sometimes people yelled when they cared; she knew this for a fact because there were times when her sister tended to show love through various stages of fury. There was no doubt in her mind that Mrs. Potter was angry because she knew how badly they could have been hurt and that Moody had been upset that they had put themselves in such a dangerous situation (perhaps when James had asked him what took so long, he had been wondering that himself).

Personally, she didn't exactly approve of the 'Yell First, Hug Later' approach, but she knew a fair number of people who _did _and she thought that Mrs. Potter was probably among them.

Then again, Lily realized belated that this theory would require her to accept the fact that James Potter had been angry with her today because he cared about her. Actually and legitimately _cared _for her.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye again, unsure how she felt about that.

* * *

A hundred miles away, in a room with a dusty floor, Lord Voldemort sighed.

"You have failed me," he said simply, and he relished in the way the two imbeciles trembled beneath his stare.

"I am sorry, my Lord," one of them whispered, bowing his head low. "It will not happen again."

"Again?" he asked amusedly, fingering his wand lightly. "I should kill you where you stand."

They stiffened; one of them fell to his knees. "Please! Please, don't kill me, my Lord! I will do anything!"

"You should be willing to do anything, regardless."

"Yes—that's—that is what I meant, my Lord. _Please_—"

"Do not beg," Lord Voldemort snapped. "I will not have cowards within my ranks."

The man continued to quiver, but shut his mouth obediently; Lord Voldemort supposed that was at least _some_ improvement.

He began to pace the room slowly, eyeing them imperiously. He wanted to kill them—they _deserved _to be killed. Letting a group of blood traitors and a wand-less Mudblood get the better of them was despicable, and now (including the idiot Sirius Black had turned into the Ministry last week) he was down three death eaters.

His wand hand twitched.

Despicable.

It would be so easy to end them, to show others what awaited them if they failed him in the future. But he supposed it would be prudent, for his future endeavors, to maintain the volume of his force—at least until he could amass more followers.

No, it wouldn't be wise to kill two more, no matter how much he wanted to. He stopped walking, dreading what he was about to do: He couldn't wait until the day that the peons were expendable.

"You are lucky that your Lord Voldemort is feeling merciful today."

The same man he had reprimanded earlier climbed shakily to his feet. "Thank you, my Lord. Thank you! I am most grateful!"

"As am I," the other one spoke.

"I cannot express my grati—"

"Silence," he murmured tiredly, feeling hatred swell within him. "You will wish you were dead when I am through with you."

"M-My Lord?"

"Before I continue, let me say this: I am going to give you one last chance to prove yourselves worthy. Do you think you can accomplish this task?"

"With certainty, my Lord."

"Good. Find out everything you can on the five teenagers that bested you today. I want to know their secrets and their weaknesses; I want to know _how _they beat you!" His voice, previously calm, had fallen to a venomous hiss. He couldn't bring himself to care. "I want to know that we will win when we go up against them again! Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Lord! We will not fail you again!"

"I should certainly hope not," Lord Voldemort said, already feeling decidedly more composed. He could feel his power pulsing in his wand as clearly as he could hear the shaking breaths of the incompetent men standing before him. "Now, I will teach you not to fail me again: _Crucio!_"

The screams that filled the room brought a smile to his lips.

* * *

He was going to die.

She was trying to kill him.

Muggle clothing was entirely too skimpy in James Potter's mind; _especially _when Lily Evans was the one running around in it all day with her long bloody legs and her curves and the inch of skin that appeared around her midriff when she raised her arms to gesture or stretch…

He snuck a glance across the room at her and saw that she was entranced in something his father was saying (he tried and failed not to be jealous); she was fiddling with the ends of her long hair and chewing absent-mindedly on her pink lips—and Merlin's sake, if he didn't know Lily Evans, he'd think that she _was_ trying to kill him.

She was certainly doing a good enough job.

But the thing was—the most infuriating thing—was that he _did _know her (in a very limited sense) and he knew that she wasn't trying at all. She had a streak of innate kindness inside her that would never allow her to torture someone this way, and James knew that everything she was doing was done completely on accident.

In a way, that made her even more attractive.

He liked the idea of a bird being so perfect without even trying (he hated it when girls tried too hard), and Lily Evans never tried harder than she needed to. She had this natural sort of beauty that just radiated all the time and made his brain short out and his mouth go dry, and she was just _cool_, in a genuine way—she read books because she liked them, and she could have a good time at parties without getting completely trashed, and she didn't laugh at his jokes unless she thought they were funny, and she never hesitated to tell him when she thought he was being a prat…

She was perfect and she was slowly killing him and she didn't even _care. _

Instead, she was preoccupied with his father_._

It was _so_ unfair.

"James?" Sirius asked loudly, clapping him on the back roughly. "Are you even listening to me?"

James shook his head clear of her and turned to face his friend, blinking rapidly. "Huh—what?"

"He was staring at Evans," Remus informed him, grinning smugly.

"Ah. Thought I saw a bit of drool."

"Shove off," James muttered crossly. He did not need his mates teasing him when Lily Evans was plotting his murder and his father was busy ruining his life from a few meters away.

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius sighed, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I was trying to ask you if you minded if I stayed over tonight, but since you're being such an arsehole, I reckon I'll stay over even if you don't want me to."

James rolled his eyes. "Like I even have a choice in the matter." He was pretty sure his mum liked Sirius better than she liked him anyways.

The small grin adorning Sirius's face widened considerably. "True."

"Well I, for one," Remus said, "am going to go home and _relax_. I've had enough excitement to last me until the end of summer."

"I really hope you don't mean that, Moony," Sirius said solemnly. "I have so much planned for us!"

"What—you have things _planned_? Do you just sit around and come up with ways to get us in trouble?"

"It's not like I have anything better to do at my house."

From anyone else, the comment might have been completely innocent, but the uncomfortable silence that followed Sirius's statement betrayed the glaring truth of it. In fact, James, Remus, and Peter had been growing increasingly worried about Sirius the longer he spent inside his parent's home. Granted, he spent lots of time at places _other _than his parent's house, but when he had to go back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place (or when he came from it), he always slipped into a foul mood—almost a depression—and each time, it was worse than the last. Earlier in the summer, James had gone with his parents for a short vacation to their house in France. Sirius was invited, but had declined for reasons he had not specified. However, upon returning, James discovered that Sirius hadn't lasted two days in the Black house before showing up on Remus's doorstep wearing a sheepish smile and a shiny bruise around his right eye.

A flurry of red hair and an "I hope I'm not interrupting anything…" (thankfully) interrupted their conversation, and James turned almost immediately to Lily, a snarky comment already tumbling out of his mouth.

"Well, it's good to see you haven't _completely_ forgotten our existence."

She studied him in confusion for a moment before turning away, and he huffed disgruntledly. "I just came to say goodbye," she told the other two, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear—James was suddenly overcome with such a strong desire to run his fingers through her hair that he had to shove his hands into his pockets. "Mr. Potter's gone to get some brooms, so I'll probably be flying back any minute now."

"You can fly, Evans?" Sirius asked, sounding surprised.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Have a safe trip back, Lily," Remus put in, and his words caused a smile to light up her face.

"Thank you, Remus. I…er, well I also had something else to say…" she trailed off, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and drawing James's attention to her legs again. They really were _perfect_. She sighed, scrunching her nose up in an expression of reluctance, and James raised an eyebrow.

"You okay, Evans? If you don't want to leave, you don't have to."

"No, I just…I need to apologize."

_She _needed to apologize? For _what_?

"Lily," Remus said hurriedly. "Nothing that happened is your fault, remember—"

"I know," she cut him off. "I know that. But it isn't your fault either, so I'm er—I'm sorry about what I said to you all at the end of last year. It was wrong of me to say those things; I know that it wasn't your fault, I was just so angry…"

"Don't worry about it," Sirius chimed in, shrugging his shoulders. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't even listen to half of what you said."

She laughed. "Surprisingly…that _does _make me feel a bit better." She turned her head to James, sighing softly. "And James, I'm—I'm especially sorry to you. I know I yelled at you most of all and I was really horrid, and you didn't deserve it. You tried to defend me, and though I still think you went about it the wrong way…I suppose I should be grateful."

"Don't sound _too_ enthusiastic," he muttered sardonically.

"And while we're on the subject, I'm sorry for biting your head off earlier today, as well," she said, completely ignoring his previous comment.

"Well…" he gave a dramatic sigh, "I suppose I can forgive you. Do you want to kiss and make up?"

She glared at him, but he did not miss the corner of her lips twitch slightly. "Don't push your luck, Potter."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Evans."

"Lily!" he heard his father call from the other room. "Are you ready?"

"I'll be right there!" she answered. "I have to go. Today was…horrible." Sirius snorted. "I'll see you guys much, much later."

For a moment, James thought she might hug him—she did an awkward sort of step towards him before clearing her throat and raising a hand in farewell. Then she spun on her heel and jogged off. His mother stopped her at the door and said something that made her laugh, and then she was gone.

He sighed.

"Uh oh," Remus teased. "He's drooling again."

"Shut it."

"Oh, come on, Prongs," Sirius said, ruffling his hair. "We're proud of you! You managed to have a conversation with Lily Evans without saying anything stupid! Well," he amended, grinning evilly, "without saying anything _really _stupid. It's improvement though, and that's what counts—"

"Shut it!"

* * *

When Lily Evan's trainers finally touched the grass on her back lawn, she felt weak with relief. She liked flying to relax sometimes, but riding across country under the cover of night was hardly enjoyable. She was cold, stiff, and even more exhausted than before.

With difficulty, she dismounted the broomstick and turned to look gratefully at her house. All of the lights were on in her house, and she figured that her poor mother must have gone on one of her cleaning frenzies (that always occurred when she was worried about something) and that her father was keeping vigil at one of the windows.

The disillusionment charm that had been cast over her was lifted suddenly and she turned in surprise, having forgotten for the moment that David Potter was with her. With another wave of his wand the brooms vanished, and they began to walk towards the back door. Lily cleared her throat, suddenly feeling remarkably self-conscious. Though Mr. Potter didn't make any indication that he found the size of her home (which was a modest two story house) to be any concern, she couldn't help but feel a bit foolish—especially having just come from the extravagant grandeur of the Potter Manor.

However, her desire to be back with her family won out against any qualms she might have had and she offered him a smile. "Would you like to come inside, Mr. Potter?"

He nodded. "Thank you, Lily. Perhaps I can help explain things to your folks."

Heaving open the screen door, she took a step inside—almost collapsing with gratefulness as the familiar scent of _home _invaded her senses. "Mum?" She called loudly, striding into the house. "Dad!"

"Lily?" The frantic voice of her mother sounded from the kitchen and Lily broke into a run, crossing the living room in record speed and breathlessly tearing into the other room.

As predicted, her mother was standing with a soapy sponge in her hand (presumably in the act of scrubbing the counters down) and her father was clattering in from the dining room—which had the largest window in the house.

"Mum!" Lily exclaimed, throwing herself across the room and into the older woman's arms.

"Oh, _honey_! You had us so worried! What _happened_ to you? Oh, Jack—look how dirty she is! Lily Anne Evans, you tell me what is going on right now!"

With a disconsolate noise, Lily extracted herself from her mother only to be swept up immediately by her father—who hugged her with such gusto that she was lifted clean off her feet. She felt an absurd urge to cry, but squeezed her eyes shut tightly, unwilling to shed any more tears.

Her mother was still talking. "The Corner Store was all over the news…they kept saying a bomb went off. And then we got two letters from that Ministry of yours, but they didn't give us any information! The first one said there had been an attack of some sorts, but that you were okay and the second one came a few hours later saying that there had been some sort of—of _complication _but that a David Potter was taking care of it! Lily we were so worried! Who is David Potter?"

"Er…that would be me," a sheepish voice said, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans' heads snapped up at the unfamiliar voice.

"Mum, Dad," Lily managed to say, disentangling herself from her father and gesturing towards the wizard loitering awkwardly at the doorway. "This is Mr. Potter. He's the father of one of my classmates—he came to collect us all from the Ministry and sort everything out."

"Sort everything out?" Mrs. Evans repeated as her father crossed the room to shake the man's hand. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"No—"

"Lily Anne, don't lie to us," her father interrupted sternly.

"She's not," Mr. Potter assured them. "It was all a big misunderstanding. Lily and her friends acted admirably—without her bravery, many more lives could have been lost."

"Many _more _lives?" her mother asked shrilly, squeezing Lily's shoulder protectively. "Good Lord, Lily—what happened?"

"Mum," she sighed meekly, swallowing the lump that had manifested in her throat, "I _really _don't feel like talking about it again…" And it was true. Now that she was home she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and forget everything dreadful that had happened that day.

"I would be happy to explain everything to you, Mrs. Evans," Mr. Potter offered, sending Lily a small smile.

"Please, call me Autumn," she said, smoothing Lily's hair out of her face. "And that would be lovely, thank you—Lily, poor thing, you've been through enough today sweetheart, go get cleaned up."

"Thank you," she said softly, directing it at both her parents and Mr. Potter.

She turned around, intending to go straight upstairs, but was instead startled by the sight of her sister leaning stiffly against the doorframe and looking a great deal paler than usual.

"Petunia!" Lily exclaimed, a hand flying up to rest on her heart. "You scared me! I didn't know you were there."

"Where else would I be?" she asked, and Lily shrugged uncomfortably. Petunia sighed and gestured for her to follow her out of the room; as soon as they were out of earshot, she rounded on her. "What is going on?" she asked sharply. "Mum and Dad are freaking out."

Lily frowned, thinking of her warm bed upstairs, but she started speaking all the same. "There was—I was attacked at work. A few of my friends were there and we managed to fight them off, but—Tuney, it was _terrible_. I…" despite her declarations against it, she felt tears prick her eyes again. "Mr. Clifford is dead; I saw him get killed."

Petunia twitched, but only said: "But _where _have you been all day? We had to miss our reservations at Luigi's—"

A sick feeling of horror overcame Lily and she gasped. "Oh my God—Tuney, I totally forgot! I am so sorry!"

Petunia's mouth thinned into a line and Lily grimaced, realizing too late that that had been the wrong thing to say. "You _forgot_ it was my birthday?"

"I—I'm really sorry! There was just…so many horrible things happened today and—with Mr. Clifford's murder..."

Petunia started. "He was _murdered_?"

"Yes!"

"You said he was killed!"

"What's the difference?"

"Being murdered is _ten times _worse!" She paused for breath, her blue eyes flicking quickly over Lily. "Are you hurt?"

"N-No. I'm okay."

"Then I don't understand why you couldn't have come home!"

"It's a long story! If you would just go in the kitchen and listen to Mr. Potter..."

"You _promised _that you would be home in time for my birthday dinner," Petunia said lowly, crossing her thin arms over her blouse tightly. "That was the only thing I asked—"

"Petunia!" Lily protested, still struggling to blink back tears. "This morning you asked me to take the day off of work—"

"And you didn't, did you?" she asked viciously. "You completely disregarded everything I said, just like usual—you are so _selfish_, Lily!"

"I am no—"

"You are! You went off to that—that joke of a school because _you _wanted to! You went off to work at your stupid job because _you _wanted to! You don't care about me at all, do you?"

"I do!"

"_God_, if you had just done what I wanted, then you wouldn't have even been attacked and we could have gone out to dinner—I had to send Vernon home, Lily, because Mom and Dad were so distraught over _you_! They didn't even care that this was the first time they were going to meet my boyfriend!"

"Tuney, I'm _sorry_—"

"Save it, Lily," she muttered darkly, turning away. "I should've known that you'd fuck everything up again."

She stalked away up the stairs and Lily let out an indisposed sob as the tears she'd been repressing finally spilled down her cheeks.


End file.
